Wire-annealing furnace.



No- 798,242. PATENTED AUG. 29, 1905. J. F. WARWICK.

WIRE ANNEALING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23,1904.

'3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ZJZZ I eSSeg' 97W No. 798,242. PATENTED AUG. 29, 1905.

J. P. WARWICK. WIRE ANNEALING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23,1904.

3 SHEBTSSHEET 2.

WWW W\m No. 798,242. PATENTED AUG. 29, 1905.

J. F. WARWICK. WIRE ANNEALINGVFURNAGE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23,1904. I

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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JOHN F. WARWICK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WIRE-ANNEALING FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1905.

Application iiled June 23, 1904. Serial No. 213,889.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. WARWICK, a' citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Annealing Furnaces;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the inven tion, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a novel construction in a furnace for annealingwire, the object being to provide a furnace in which a uniformtemperature may be easily and constantly maintained at minimum cost andin Which the wire to be annealed is not brought into contact with thehot gases in the furnace; and it consists in the features ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is aside elevation of a furnace constructed in accordance with my invention.Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same. Fi 3 is avertical transverse section, on an enlarged scale, on

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail transverse section on the line 4 4 ofFig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail fragmentary horizontal section on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

My said furnace consists of an elongated structure having side walls Aand covered by an arch B, the said side walls and arch being preferablybuilt of a material which is capable of withstanding a high temperature.At regular intervals in said furnace are firingchambers C, each of whichis provided with a grate D and ash-pit E, said chambers C and ash-pits Ehaving doors F and G, through which fuel is introduced and ashesremoved. Each of said firing-chambers C is covered by an arch H, offire-brick or similar material, which is so constructed as to provide aplurality of openings I therein, through which the said firing-chamberscommunicate with a horizontal flue J. Extending longitudinally throughsaid flue J and resting upon the said arches H and upon the lateralwalls K between the firing-chambers are partition-walls L, composed ofblocks of fire-clay or similar material provided with a plurality oflongitudinal openings M, said openings being continuous throughout saidpartition-walls and re istering with similar openings in the end wallsof the structure. The said partition-walls L are preferably corrugatedon their outer faces to increase the heating-surfaces thereof and areprovided in their upper edges with recesses N to receive covering-tilesO, forming partitions between said flues J and a second horizontal flueI, immediately below the arch B, said flue Pcommunicating at one endwith the flue J 7 through the opening P and at its other end with thechimney-flue R.

The side and end walls of the structure are reinforced by the buckstaysS, and to further prevent said side walls from yielding at pointsbetween the points at which the buckstays bear thereon to the lateralpressure exerted by the arches channel-beams T are disposed in the outerfaces of said side walls opposite the ends of said arches. The saidarches H being exposed to the most intense heat will at intervals giveway and require repairs. Such repairs are usually difficult to make, byreason of the fact that the mason is generally required to crawl intothe firing-chamber and do his work in the cramped space, which isexceedingly disadvantageous and renders the work very tedious andexpensive. To obviate this and enable such repairs tobe easily andquickly made, I provide lateral openings U in the arch B at regularintervals, such openings being closed by arched gates V, each of whichconsists of a metal plate W, bent to a curve conforming with thecurvature of the arch and provided at its ends with flanges X, betweenwhich an arch of firebrick or the like is held, such plates beingprovided with eyes Y, by means of which they are raised. The said platesare not exposed to the heat, and hence cannot warp or burn out. Byremoving such gates and also removing the tiles 0 and such parts of thepartitionwalls L as may be necessary the arches H are made easilyaccessible for purposes of repair.

The operation of my furnace is as follows: Fires are started in all ofthe chambers C and maintained to heat the partition-walls L to thedesired temperature. The wire to be annealed is then passed through theopenings M in said partition-walls and the end walls of the furnace andduring their passage are annealed. After the said partition-walls haveattained the desired temperature the fire is banked in one or more ofsaid firing-chambers, it being usually necessary to maintain a live fireinonly two thereof to maintain the temperature. By reason of the factthat the said partition-walls are composed of fire-brick or similarmaterial, which is not agood condutor of heat, any change in thetemperature thereof must necessarily be comparatively slow, andconsequently readily detected, so 5 that the fireman can easily regulatehis fires accordingly. As a result it will beobvious that thetemperature can be easily maintained uniform and the best results inannealing thus attained. The wires passed 1 0 through are alsomaintained clean and in their passage are not subjected to greatvariation in temperature.

I claim as my invention- 1. A wire annealing furnace, provided with aplurality of laterally-disposed firingchambers at intervals between itsends, a plurality of longitudinal flues above said firing-chambers andcommunicating with. the latter at and between their ends, thepartition-walls separating-said flues being provided with openings forthe passage of the wire to be annealed, a longitudinal passage abovesaid flues communicating at one end with all of the latter at one endthereof and at its other end with a chimney.

2. A Wire-annealing furnace, having a plurality of firing-chambersdisposed at intervals between its ends, a plurality oflongitudinally-disposed parallel walls above said firing-chamber, saidwalls being corrugated on their faces and provided with longitudinalopenin s for the passage of the wire to. be annealed,longitudinally-disposed flues between said walls communicating at andbetween their ends with said firing-chambers, removable covers supportedon said walls continuously from one end of the furnace to a pointadjacentits other end, a longitudinal flue above said parallel flues andcommunicating at one end with. one end of each of the latter and at itsother end with a chimney, an arch covering said upper flue, and provided at intervals with openings, and re movable covers for saidopenings.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN F. WARWICK.

Witnesses RUDOLPH WM. LoTZ, F. SoHLoTFELD.

